ABSTRACT- COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CORE: To foster relationships between the CHHE and communities in North Carolina, the Community Engagement Core (CEC) will lead efforts on collaborative dialogue among researchers, educators, and citizens. Particular attention will be given to deepening established relationships and forging new partnerships with vulnerable communities throughout the eastern portion of the state, with a specific focus on our partner communities in Durham, Raleigh, and Wilmington. We envision an inclusive and comprehensive approach to our engagement efforts. The CEC will (1) exchange important information with vulnerable groups and our target audiences (to raise awareness of environmental health issues and increase environmental health literacy), (2) gather concerns and suggestions on environmental exposures faced by our partner communities in their everyday lives, and (3) forge new paths in encouraging researchers and residents to work together as equal partners to further environmental health knowledge and solve local problems through environmental health science. Within CHHE, the CEC will link the Facility Cores, Research Interest Groups, and Center leadership. CEC- sponsored activities will include colloquia and an annual summit that helps Center researchers better appreciate the social and cultural impact of their work for communities that benefit from it. Going beyond a purely translation-based approach that featured highly in the first funding cycle, we intend to broaden and sharpen the scope of who takes part in our engagement efforts, what environmental health communication and education looks like, how engagement unfolds appropriately and effectively, and why we embrace an inclusive engagement approach, which will translate into engaged scholarship to share our insights with researchers and practitioners.